Full Text of HJR0040 095th General Assembly
HJ0040 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, According to a recent study by the Center for | 3 |
| Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, | 4 |
| Massachusetts, in 2005 in Illinois there were 227,010 youth | 5 |
| ages 16 to 24 years old and 59,457 youth ages 16 to 19 years old | 6 |
| who left high school before earning a high school diploma; and
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| WHEREAS, This study outlines that in Illinois, of the | 8 |
| 227,010 youth who left school without a high school diploma, | 9 |
| 92,424 are White, 70,842 are Hispanic, 58,390 are Black, and | 10 |
| 5,354 are listed as other; and
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| WHEREAS, The vast majority of Chicago area and downstate | 12 |
| Illinois youth who left school without a high school diploma | 13 |
| come from lower income areas; and
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| WHEREAS, The vast majority of these youth who left school | 15 |
| without a high school diploma see themselves as students who | 16 |
| want to return to school and earn a high school diploma, and | 17 |
| many of these students return to educational programs that are | 18 |
| severely under-funded and that are not able to provide the | 19 |
| comprehensive educational program and various support services | 20 |
| that these students need to successfully re-enroll and earn a | 21 |
| high school diploma; and
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| WHEREAS, A comprehensive system is needed for all students, | 2 |
| those in school and those who want to return to school, but the | 3 |
| school experience that will help out-of-school students | 4 |
| succeed when they re-enroll must be different; people learn in | 5 |
| different ways, one size does not fit all, and smaller schools | 6 |
| offer a more personal, flexible, and accountable curriculum | 7 |
| that successfully re-enrolls, teaches, and graduates these | 8 |
| out-of-school students; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois employers are experiencing a shortage of | 10 |
| skilled workers, and these re-enrolled students could provide | 11 |
| the needed addition to the workforce needs of the Illinois | 12 |
| economy and Illinois businesses; and
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| WHEREAS, Eighty percent of prison inmates are students who | 14 |
| left school without a high school diploma and, as such, can | 15 |
| pose a problem, in terms of crime and public safety, to the | 16 |
| general public in their communities and neighborhoods; and
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| WHEREAS, Out-of-school students without a high school | 18 |
| diploma earn $828,000 less over their lifetimes than people who | 19 |
| have a high school diploma and some college education and | 20 |
| $410,000 less than high school graduates; and
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| WHEREAS, The annual cost to Illinois is over $2.4 billion | 22 |
| for these students who left school without a high school |
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| diploma; and
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| WHEREAS, The benefit to Illinois taxpayers is $312,000 over | 3 |
| the lifetime of a re-enrolled student who returns to school and | 4 |
| earns a high school diploma in terms of that person paying more | 5 |
| taxes on his or her increased earnings as well as the reduced | 6 |
| social costs in terms of his or her utilizing welfare services, | 7 |
| mental health services, and other dependency services and being | 8 |
| less likely to enter prison or incur other costs related to | 9 |
| crime; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, There is significant research and program | 11 |
| experience to draw on and use to develop successful programs to | 12 |
| re-enroll, teach, and graduate students who left school before | 13 |
| earning a high school diploma; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, The Governor and the General Assembly created the | 15 |
| Task Force on Re-Enrolling Students Who Dropped Out of School, | 16 |
| which had a 2-year cycle to examine and develop an interim and | 17 |
| final report to address this issue of students who had left | 18 |
| school without a high school diploma; this Task Force will end | 19 |
| on January 10, 2008; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, The work of this Task Force should continue in | 21 |
| terms of addressing the need to develop a comprehensive system | 22 |
| for students who left school before earning a high school |
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| diploma and want to re-enroll to earn a high school diploma; | 2 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 4 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 5 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that that there is created the | 6 |
| Council on Re-enrolling Students Who Dropped Out of School in | 7 |
| order to carry on the work of the Task Force on Re-Enrolling | 8 |
| Students Who Dropped Out of School by continuing to examine and | 9 |
| develop ways to address the growing issue of students who left | 10 |
| school before earning a high school diploma; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the purpose of the Council is to examine | 12 |
| policies, programs, and other issues related to developing a | 13 |
| variety of successful approaches using best program practices | 14 |
| to re-enroll, teach, and graduate students who left school | 15 |
| before earning a high school diploma and, in doing so, improve | 16 |
| community safety and the Illinois economy; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Council shall be composed of the | 18 |
| following members: 8 legislators (2 of whom shall be appointed | 19 |
| by the President of the Senate, 2 of whom shall be appointed by | 20 |
| the Speaker of the House, 2 of whom shall be appointed by the | 21 |
| House Minority Leader, and 2 of whom shall be appointed by the | 22 |
| Senate Minority Leader); one representative from the | 23 |
| Governor's Office appointed by the Governor; one |
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| representative of the State Board of Education appointed by the | 2 |
| State Superintendent of Education; one representative of the | 3 |
| Board of Higher Education appointed by its chairperson; one | 4 |
| representative of the Department of Human Services appointed by | 5 |
| the Secretary of Human Services; one representative of the | 6 |
| Department of Children and Family Services appointed by the | 7 |
| Director of Children and Family Services; one representative of | 8 |
| the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity appointed | 9 |
| by the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; one | 10 |
| representative of the Illinois Community College Board | 11 |
| appointed by the President of the Illinois Community College | 12 |
| Board; 17 representatives from the public (8 of whom shall come | 13 |
| from schools or programs working with students who had left | 14 |
| school before earning a high school diploma) appointed by the | 15 |
| Governor, with one of these public representatives serving as | 16 |
| chairperson of the Council; and be it further | 17 |
| RESOLVED, That the duties of the Council shall include | 18 |
| continuing a series of public hearings throughout the State to | 19 |
| discuss the impact of students who have left school without a | 20 |
| high school diploma on various regions of the State, continuing | 21 |
| a review of data regarding students who have left school | 22 |
| without a high school diploma that allows for a comparison of | 23 |
| Illinois data both nationally and with other states in the | 24 |
| region and across the country, continuing a review of various | 25 |
| financing and funding mechanisms used by other states, |
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| counties, cities, foundations, and other financial funding | 2 |
| sources, and producing and filing an annual report with | 3 |
| recommendations to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the | 4 |
| State Board of Education on ways and means to address the | 5 |
| challenge of re-enrolling students who have left school without | 6 |
| a high school diploma; and be it further | 7 |
| RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall be | 8 |
| responsible for facilitating the Council; and be it further | 9 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 10 |
| delivered to the Governor, the State Superintendent of | 11 |
| Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Higher Education, | 12 |
| the Secretary of Human Services, the Director of Children and | 13 |
| Family Services, the Director of Commerce and Economic | 14 |
| Opportunity, and the President of the Illinois Community | 15 |
| College Board.
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